The Chosen Mountain

"And Avraham called the name of that site 'G-d Yireh' as it is said on this day, on the mountain G-d will be seen." (Bereishet 22:14)

"G-d Yireh", Targum Onkeles explains, means that this site, Mount Moriah, will be chosen by G-d as the place where His spirit will dwell and where sacrifices will be offered.

A bitter element of our people's exile is that not only do we lack the Beit Hamikdash which stood on this site but that it has become a house of worship for those who wish to destroy us.

Although the Halacha forbids us in our present ritually impure state to physically ascend the Temple Mount, every Jew, wherever he is, and wherever he prays to Heaven, directs his prayers to this "Gate to Heaven" and longs for the day when this site will be restored to its rightful owner. It is this emotional bond with this holy site which gives us the confidence that it will eventually belong only to Israel forever.

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